A Major Disappointment

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

An absolutely atrocious film about 3 totally stupid astronauts who get 'stranded' in earth orbit, low on oxygen and guts.Greg Peck, David Janssen, Gene Hackman, Jim Franciscus, and all the rest of the idiots who participated in this ridiculous fiasco are terrible. The astronauts put on their red(?) plastic space helmets and give them half of a quarter turn and we're supposed to believe they're 'protected' from the rigors of space. Dumb dialogue and dumb everything else makes this movie a complete bore as it drags on for, like, forever! Looks like it was videotaped over a weekend by a high school drama department.At least 'MST3k' made one of their best episodes riffing this garbage film. If you must watch, watch THAT version.

This movie stinks unless you watch the MST3k episode which is very funny.Gene Hackman, Dick Crenna, and Jimbo Franciscus play uptight American astronauts who get 'stranded' in earth orbit. Gregory Peck, Scott Brady, and a plethora of other actors are in mission control trying to talk these idiots down. The film drones on and on trying to inject some life somewhere - anywhere. At one point, the wives of the space dudes show up to offer their men moral support just about the time the viewer is throwing a noose over the rafters.John Sturges directed (believe it or not).

This movie is based on the novel written by Martin Caidin who also wrote Cyborg, the basis of the 6 Million Dollar Man. It did receive an Oscar for special effects and the John Sturges film does have great special effects. At 2 hour and 15 minutes it does drag a bit.When you rate the cast, this was an A-List with Gregory Peck, David Janssen, Richard Crenna, James Franciscus, & Gene Hackman heading up the list. Even the limited role of weeping/tense wives is headed up by Lee Grant, Mariette Hartley,and Nancy Kovack. Grant now over 90, won an Oscar but not for this one.So with a cast like this and a decent sci-fi novel to base it on, why isn't this 2001? For some reason, it just does not come off too well as it did not capture the audience the way 2001 did a year prior. It is not that shabby a movie.The plot is a 5 month mission to the US space station ends and when the crew of 3 unhooks from the station their retro rocket burn to come back does not fire. David Janssen becomes the first to pilot a space shuttle, 12 years before the first US Shuttle actually launched in 1981.What seems flawed in this is instead of a lot of dead space, more attention should have been paid to the preparing of a rescue launch in 40 hours. A hurricane comes in to screw up the launch of the rescue as well. Still there is a nice gesture of détente here with the USSR getting a rescue vehicle there just before the US Shuttle flying without computers according to the script.While the film creates urgency, it fail to pull in the audience though the visual work is splendid. The film really makes the astronauts wives one dimensional which is a lost opportunity of such talented women.One thing that breaks out of the mold is one of the three dies just before any rescue folks show up. The lack of any home feeling and fleshing out of some of the men as well is why it does not pull anything in. Even a guest cameo by Hal the Computer could have helped. While it could have been better, at least the ending of the film is quick with just barely enough information to know who was rescued and the inside of Janssen's Space Shuttle is only an image of the pilots area. Think the budget must have been a little short there.

The best thing about Marooned is Lee Grant. She's really wonderful in a tiny role as the wife of the commander.The worst thing about Marooned is that it's dated. Here's a sample line of dialogue that made me cringe: "Celia and I have been in this business 10 years. We learned that the best thing is for us girls to keep our feelings to ourselves and let the men get on with their jobs. Right, Celia?"This is a dramatic story about three astronauts stranded in orbit. Richard Crenna, the spacecraft commander, and James Franciscus, the science systems astronaut, are very good. I especially liked Franciscus. Unfortunately, Gregory Peck is kind of stiff and stoic as the man in charge. Gene Hackman is the Apollo guidance pilot and as he gradually goes crazy, I'm not sure if I didn't like his acting or I didn't like his character. Anyway, I did not enjoy watching him.The makers of this movie went to great lengths to be very accurate in their depiction of mission control, the Apollo capsule, costuming and such. Great production values all around. The storm looks really authentic too. It won an Oscar for best visual effects in 1970.David Janssen plays an Air Force colonel who wants to launch a rescue mission against all odds. He's the heroic senior astronaut on the ground who wants to fly the X-RV into space to save them. It's never before been flown into space so there are some inherent dangers. When it's finally launched, it's actually a pretty thrilling sight. It's a very quiet movie and the pacing is kind of slow. It's not bad, but overall, the movie had too much technology and perhaps too much realism - it needed a bit more storytelling and drama.